River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1887-01-06
Bees and Their Management.


| Brother Jones or Brother Smith should
do with his bees. But shall attempt
to outline in general way what | in
tend to do with my bees the coming
| season.
\ swarm of bees is composed of one
mother bee, called a queen, large
number of worker bees and a few
male or drone bees. The queen lays
all the eggs, the worker bees gather
the honey. rear the young, guard their
home, sting their enemies, and in short,
do all the work that is done in their
little home. They resemble the queen
IN shape, being little smaller. Every
| worker bee Is an undevelOped queen
| The drOnes, the males, of the bee
| family perform mona of the domestic
| work. They gather 10 honey, they
! have no stingers, they serve but one
purpose. When the queen has Gil I'd
all the combs with eggs and the young
| bees have Matched IN such numbers
| that there is no more room for them
TO store honey or for the queen to lay
| eggs. then the bees bui'i what are
called queen cells, and pace eggs in
the queen cells and feed the young
1 bCGo NAAftN az ~ bNNOAAtC lONAR tllttil5
on what is called royal Jelly, a food
prepared by the bees for the queens,
and nine days from the time the queen
cell is started the young queen Will be
grown to full size, and the cell will be
close sealed; and now the old queen
and the old bees will fly out of the
hive to form new swarm. AS swarm.
ing takes place in the middle of the
day great many bees will be out in
the fields gathering honey. And they
came back to the old hive. And in
seven days the young queen matches,
and seven lays after she takes her
wedding highs. And having met a
drOne she returns To the hive and is
laying eggs very fast. For most of
the eggs lald by the Old queen will by
this time have Matched out, and the
old swarm left weak by the departure
Of the old queen and bees, is in reality
new swarm having IA new young
queen and all young bees. But to re-
turn to the new swarm, as we call it
in reality the old swarm-because it
has old bees and an old queen--comes
rushing out of the hive. The air is
full of bees flying in every direction
for "A few minutes. At last the queen
lights on some tree, fence, bush or
whatever seems to please her, and the
other bees cluster and hang in "a large
ball around her. | intend 10 have my
hives ready before swarming time
which begins the last of May, and have
them all placed just where they are to
remain the rest of the season in the
shade of some tree or bush; or if these
are not to be had | shall make artificial
shades. | shall have my hives face
the east, and not less than seven feet
apart. As soon as swarm begins to
cluster | shall thrust my swarming
box up under the cluster and give the
limb a gentle shake sufficient to
tumble the bees into the swarm
ing box, and the other bees will
light on the swarming box crawl in
and out of the holes; and soon all the
bees will be in or on the box. Then
take the swarm to the hive it is to
occupy, having first spread m oil cloth,
piece of carpet, or having placed a
board in front of the hive. Now shake
the bees in front of the hive and with
a wing start the bees toward the hive.
AS soon as the queen has gone in. all
will be well. and if the hive stands in
cool place you need have no fear of
the swarm leaving the hive. Surplus
sections may be placed on the hive at
once or after waiting a few days. The
former is probably the better plan,
because bees generally swarm about
the time of the heavy honey flow, and
If you force them into the sections as
you can do by contracting the brood
chamber they will place whiteSt and
best honey in the sections and the
dark honey that comes after can be
stored below for the winter food Of the
bees. Hives may be contracted in
two ways You may hive a swarm
in half hive, as for example, by u.s.
ing one hidden brood case or you can
use less frames in the ordinary hive
aud shut the bees out of the rest of
the hive by means of dummies or
division boards. In any case, as soon
as you see that the heavy flow of honey
is over. the section should be taken
off. And If the hidden hive is used +,
an empty case containing foundation
should be placed under the case al
ready in use. Ii the ordinary hives
are used the dummies should be re-
moved and empty frames with fOunda-
ton should fill out the hive.
The next thing is to prepare for
winter. As soon as the frOSts have
come, and there is nothing more for
the bees to get, the beekeeper must
examine his hives and be sure that each
hive contains honey enough to last the
bees until they can gather honey again
the next spring. Each hive should
contain at least twenty-five pounds of
good sealed honey. | any hive should
not contain that amount the beekeeper
must, if he wishes to bring his swarm
through. feed the bees until they have
that amount. Caution hoW 10 feet, l0hea
to feed. AS soon as the nights begin
to he cool, l would remove the enameled
cloth or wooden honey board, if | used
it, and place blanket or chaff cushion
in an empty surplus case on the hive.
This chaff cushion Will keep the bees
warm through the chilly nights in fall
and spring, and enable them to nestle
and cluster in ball as is their wont
during the long winter About the
middle or last of November, the time
varying according as winter sets in
early or late, the bees must be removed
in doors. A bee house is the proper
place to put them. A bee house should
be d.y and dark with thick walls six to
twc4ye inches sawdust SO as not to be
susceptible to sudden changes of tenn
perature; and should have both upper
and lower ventilation sufficient TO keep
the temperature from 409 to 45o Fab
reinheit. The next best thing to bee
house is perfectly dry and dark cellar
with sufficient ventilation to keep the
air pure; and this cellar should not
contain any vegetables. \ thermO-
meter should hang in the centre of each
bee cellar, and the bee keeper should
observe the temperature frequently
and keep the temperature from 400 to
IS The essentials Of successful cellar
winteriug are plenty of good food, a
dry dark cellar with a temperature
of from 10 to AS; quiet and change
of air.
During the first week of last April,
when the snow was nearly all gone the
weather moderated, the Thermometer
rose to seventy degrees and warm
south wind continued for three days.
On the first day, little after noon, /
set my bees out. They rushed out OF
| the hives, flew about in the warm sun
light and Immediately commenced
gathering honey that stood in beds on
| the blossoms of the soft maple. While
one can never tell what the weather is
L